Dalston, described by City Splash founder Ben Ryan as a “staunch” neighbourhood to grow up in, was home to the Caribbean-led cultural infrastructure that helped to shape his understanding of community. He speaks fondly of the record shops spilling sound onto Ridley Road Market on a Saturday; the café inside Centerprise, the Black bookshop his mum worked at part-time, and the Hackney Downs “all-dayers” that brought heavy sound systems and multiple generations together into one foggy siren of celebration. “That’s where we were at our best as a community,” says Ryan, but many of those shared spaces and collective rituals have steadily disappeared over the past few decades. “The only time we actually fully get that now is [Notting Hill] carnival.”
City Splash emerges from that loss: a festival that pays homage to the legacy of Notting Hill Carnival while carving out space for the ever-changing sounds of Black music across the globe. Now drawing 30,000 people to south London’s leafy Brockwell Park, the festival both preserves a cultural lineage and pushes into fresh territory. From the percussive, bassy foundations of roots, reggae, dancehall and dub to the bright upper echelons of Afrobeats, jungle, garage, and amapiano, City Splash is a resplendent celebration of Black music and movement.
“I’m not just a promoter,” Ryan tells me. “In fact, I don’t ever call myself a promoter – I’m an event producer.” The distinction becomes obvious in both the depth of his involvement and the care with which City Splash has been built. Since the festival’s inception, Ben has handed a stage each year to renowned Brixton promoter Cecil Reuben, who programmes predominantly South London artists, understanding that who builds these spaces inevitably shapes how the culture is experienced within them.
Whether he is promoting the Rastafari message or responding to the “down pressure of Babylon”, Ben’s programming is intentional, bringing long-revered artists back into the heart of London alongside a wealth of emerging and established talent this Bank Holiday Monday. The line-up includes Beres Hammond, known as the King of Lovers Rock, who is returning to the UK after an eight-year absence, alongside returning performers like Chronixx and Capleton. “In these hard times, we need that strength from those artists”, he shares.
As a seasoned figure within the music industry, Ben reflects on the Black genres he’s promoted globally and the reggae events he has attended across the UK and Europe, often organised by predominantly white promoters for predominantly white audiences. “There wasn’t a large group of young Black people that were attending the reggae events, and that troubled me… I was like, man, I know we all love reggae, because when we’re at christenings, funerals, weddings and all-dayers, reggae plays loud, and everyone knows every word.”
“It’s a very white landscape in terms of the people behind the scenes and production when you get on a festival site, too,” says Ryan. “We have a responsibility and an opportunity here, especially in London. I like to see that reflected across the festival.” That commitment runs through every layer of the City Splash ecosystem: from day one, the artist liaison team has been Black female-led. “That’s been very intentional, and is something I’m really proud of”.
Born from a desire to create a space built “for us, by us”, City Splash has also evolved into a respected talent accelerator, reinvesting time, resources and hard-earned capital back into the cultures that sustain it. Central to that is Rise Up, the festival’s artist development programme supporting emerging artists from across the Caribbean through London residencies, industry mentorship, songwriting camps and live opportunities, including a set at City Splash. “We’ve got a really exciting project coming in 2027,” Ben says, “shining a spotlight on the dopest new artists coming from around the globe who are influenced by the culture.”
As we approach another year of exceptional music, dance, and celebration, City Splash feels like a continuation of the blueprint laid down by the all-dayers that soundtracked Ben’s adolescence – part festival, part cultural infrastructure, carrying forward the traditions of Black music gatherings in and beyond London for years to come.
City Splash takes place 25th May. Download the Dazed Club app to get 20 per cent off tickets.
